Motoring Challenge

Last year while driving around hunting for the 2015 Challenges Donna and I tried to come up with ideas for the 2016 contest that we could submit to the organizer(s). Here is the list we compiled that used to be displayed over on the left:

1. Tattoo Parlor = 1pt
• Tattoo Parlor w/ Fresh Tat = 2pt
• Tattoo Parlor w/ Moss Logo Tat = 5pt
2. Food Bank = 1pt
• Food Bank,Dropping Off Donation = 2pt
3. Identifiable Roadkill = 2pt
4. Military Hardware Display = 1pt
5. Harley-Davidson Dealer = 1pt
• Harley-Davidson Dealer & Wearing their T-shirt = 2pt
6. Photogenic Bridge = 1pt
7. In a Cemetery/Graveyard = 1pt
8. College Football Stadium = 1pt
9. Large Outdoor Mural = 1pt

By the time I sent in the list, it was too late, next year’s flyers/entry forms were all ready being printed/produced. How did we do as prognosticators? Not bad actually.

We had three direct hits, Tattoo Parlor, Military Hardware Display & Cemetery.

And three near misses, Harley-Davidson Dealer came in as Biker “Gang”, Photogenic Bridge became Drawbridge (raised) and College Football Stadium turned into University Campus.

Food Bank and Large Outdoor Mural have real merit and might have made next year’s list, but Roadkill not so much.

…when I say that this is the last 2015 Moss Motoring Challenge post for the year.¹

At work on Monday I had our mail clerk (one of her many jobs) weigh my Motoring Challenge envelope so I’d know how many stamps to stick on the outside. Her answer, “A dollar eighty-six.” We had a some forever stamps laying around, but I had to look up on the interwebs what denomination they actually represented, turns out its 49¢. Some quick guzintas and I came up with 4 stamps required.

We didn’t drop the envelope in the mail slot at the Post Office until late that night and according to the sticker on the inside of the pull down draw it wouldn’t be picked up until 5:00 PM, the next day!?! No real worries, Tuesday was 29th and it had to be postmarked by the 31st.

Yesterday when we got home from work and Donna checked the mail guess what was in our box? Right, got it one. The envelope intended for Goleta, California. Written in pen just underneath my orderly line of 4 forever stamps were the words, “Return to sender, 98 cents additional posted needed.” Worries.

So today I took a slightly extended morning break and drove downtown to the Post Office to stand in line and ante up my 98¢. Why didn’t I just slap a couple more of those Forever stamps on there, after all 49+49=98? Because, figuring my luck, the envelope was already on the hairy edge of the postage change line and the weight of those extra two stamps would put it over the limit and I’d had having it returned again for insufficient postage.

The clerk weighed it and said it needed the ninety-eight additional cents. I asked her why it was more than what I was told at work when it was weighed there. She said because it was rigid (didn’t bend easily) it is considered a “package” and must pay a higher rate. Oh well, I had them weigh it and they put a printed postage sticker on it and it was going first class, I got a tracking number.

If you want to follow along – 9500 1119 3741 5365 1803 60

This post is really the last 2015 Motoring Challenge post for this year. As I did last year I submitted a cover letter along with the completed entry form and the burned CD of challenge photos:

Thanks for putting on the contest; once again we had a blast. This sort of thing really hits the sweet spot of what the wife and I like to do, to while away our free time and disposable income.

I made a directory for each section on the entry form just to keep it all in order. Unfortunately one of them is empty, the one for Canadian Provinces. Inside each directory along with the photos is a PDF with my captions for them that I used in the gallery on my personal website.

Last year we scored 125 points and finished as one of the 50 runners-up. This year’s goal was to score over 150 and we did by a pretty good margin. This year’s points in last year’s field would have put us in the top ten, so we have our fingers crossed…

Favorite Point – Emus! Ever since David announced that 3 point bonus opportunity it was the focus of every drive in the Miata regardless if we were actually looking for challenges or not. Whenever we came to any sort of fenced field the call went up to look for emus and whoever was the passenger had to get their head on a swivel. The Great Emu Hunt of 2015 led to a couple hundred miles of extra driving following fruitless Google searches and random stranger’s hazy recollections of emus past, but when we finally hit the jackpot in Kentucky it was worth it.

Least Favorite Point – Fireworks Display. Not so much the challenge, but our execution of it. That weak looking burst in the sky behind me represents my least favorite photo for submission.

Easiest Point – Thrift Shop. There were thrift shops on nearly every corner to choose from. We almost made this the hardest because we must have passed hundreds of the things looking for just the right one until we finally chose one in late October (but we continued looking at other options all the way to the end.)

Hardest Point(s) – Finding a dozen lakes or rivers with both a sign and the water visible in the same shot.

Brian’s Biggest Regret – Last year we had two empty photo directories, Moss Motors Facilities & Canadian Provinces. This year we got a Moss Motors Facility, but no Canadian Province. Next year we are going north of the border.

Donna’s Biggest Regret – How could we have traveled almost ninety four hundred miles and never made it to the Pacific Ocean.